Sean Allen
BRANT NEWS

Finishing the Allan Cup Hockey regular season in second place has become a much taller order for the Brantford Blast after last weekend.

The Blast did their job on the road Friday night, earning a 6-4 win over the Orillia Tundras, and again on Sunday with a 4-2 victory over the Norwood Vipers.

Unfortunately for the Blast, the Dundas Real McCoys stepped up during a home-and-away series with the first place Whitby Dunlops.

The Real McCoys handed the Dunlops their sixth and seventh losses of the season with a 6-5 win on Friday and a 5-2 win on Saturday.

The results pushed the Real McCoys to 32 points on the season with only four games remaining. The Blast are in third place with 29 points.

Even if Brantford wins all three of its remaining games – including two against the Real McCoys – the Blast need the Norwood Vipers to defeat the Real McCoys in at least one of two meetings for Brantford to have a chance at second place.

The Vipers have just six wins this season.

The Blast wrap up their home schedule this weekend with a Friday night contest against the Orillia Tundras at the Brantford and District Civic Centre beginning at 8 p.m.

That’s followed by a Sunday afternoon home game against the Real McCoys at 2 p.m.

The Blast will play their final game of the regular season next Friday in Dundas, a game that could decide the final standings.

On Friday, the Blast will debut the defenceman general manager Peter Ham has been seeking. He decided to go with toughness over scoring.

Gerald Moriarity has signed on to join the Brantford club. The 6’2”, 205-pound blueliner is 33 years old and brings a wealth of tough guy experience.

During four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League in the late 1990s, Moriarity had 10 points and 506 penalty minutes in 154 games.

Moriarity is also well acquainted with the Blast’s biggest rival and likely first round playoff opponent, having spent three seasons with the Dundas Real McCoys from 2003 to 2006. He had two points and 293 penalty minutes in 24 games with the Real McCoys.